Longwood offered a chance to go into Israel for the day and as it was something i have always wanted to do since a child and also the fact that i was that close and might never get the opportunity again swayed me.

The cost worked out at £80 and i had to get up at 3.00am (usually i am just going to bed at that time!) as the bus left at 3.50am. We had to order a breakfast box and we were told a meal would be provided during the day. Advice was to pack something extra also and a bottle of water as well as a towel, some toiletries and advice that the ladies must have their arms and legs completely covered. Obviously, passports are essential.

The itinery included a stop off at The Dead Sea for about an hour, then a journey to Jerusalem going via where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. We were then to fly back from David Ben Gurion Airport to Eilat before transferring back over the border for our journey home, getting back to the hotel at approx 9.30pm.

Right, getting over the border was just a complete and utter nightmare. There were so many security checks it was ridiculous and very frustrating as at one point we were stopped twice in 100 yards with absolutely nothing inbetween stops other than a corridor that you walk down. You were never out of sight and there a microphones hanging around everywhere. There was a little ginger cat ( i am convinced it was a sniffer cat!) that was very friendly and seemed to cross the border at will and then come back and sit next to some one, well that someone was me and i got picked on for every search for the rest of the day! I think part of the problem was that i was travelling as a lone female ( Rob was diving and didn't go and the kids wouldn't get out of bed at that hour) and every time i was stopped i was asked why i was travelling on my own and where my husband was. The israeli guards actually took my passport off me at one point and sent me for some extra checks and i really had to grate on at them to get my passport back as they just were not going to hand it over.
In total, it took 2 hours to cross the border.

The difference between Egypt and Israel at the border is amazing, Eilat is just so Americanised, all the hotels have names like Hotel Americana and there are loads of Club New York New York's etc. We swapped tour guides at the border too as the egyptian guide was not allowed into Israel and vice versa at the end of the day. Quite tragic really.

We went by bus and the guide was very informative all the way along the journey to the Dead Sea ( in fact he never shut up!) and i was totally awe struck with the scenery, the history and the fact that i was actually visitng places i had read about at school. I got some really good pictures but it is only desert really from Eilat right up until The Dead Sea stop off point.
We had an hour in there, and yes... you really do float! But you have to shower off as 30% salt will soon irritate your skin. There are a few shops that sell the mineral mud stuff that is supposed to be good for your skin ( bought some for the mother in law) and even a Burger King! Once again, i fell foul of security guards, i was just walking along a street and this very fierce looking woman dressed all in black just jumped up and waved a gun at me shouting "bag" which absolutely terrified me and was totally unneccesary. Basically, i wasn't allowed to walk past these certain shops unless i had my bag searched...which i consented to but it would have been so much easier if she had been polite and asked me instead of waving a gun and screaming at me..what made it worse was i was the only one in the tour party they did this to. I thought i was about to be shot or kidnapped!

Anyway, we moved on to Jerusalem and drove all the way along the banks of the Dead Sea looking across at Jordan. Our tour of Jerusalem started at the top of Mount Olive looking down onto the city. There was then this wailing which i thought was an air raid siren that could be heard all the way across the city, but we went on a Saturday ( the sabbath day) and it was all the mosques calling people in for prayer.

There is alot of walking on this tour but i will try to remember some of the things we saw....The Kudron Valley, all the entry gates to the inner city, the place where Judas betrayed jesus with the kiss at the last supper, some church with the disciples on, the gates where the resurrection is supposed to take place, a few temples, Royal David's city, something to do with King Solomons temples (or his son), the wailing wall, the manger square place, king herod's temple ( but only the men were allowed inside), the last path, via delarosa, the church of the holy sephulcre and loads of other places. Every so often our guide would stop and read the bible, which is great if you are particularly religious. This tour is also great if you are a fan of history ( which is why i went). I was amazed just how much of the city is slum like.

There are more security checks to get to the wailing wall and there are 2 seperate entrances for men and women. No photo's are allowed once you are inside the square ( but i got a few discreetly) and there are separate prayer parts for men and women also. I went right up to the wall and touched it and was amazed how smooth it was, but i guess over the years millions of other people have touched it also and made it smooth. Also, there was thousands of little prayers rolled up and stuffed inside the gaps in the wall.

We also stopped somewhere and got fed some sort of kebab type thing which i am led to beleive was curried goat, however, i am not certain and think i would rather not know but it was nice. In fact, i was grateful for it as it was the only thing i got to eat all day as the breakfast box was actually from breakfast the day before and was stale and inedible and we never stopped again until we got back to the hotel. We walked through the via delarosa which is the route jesus is alleged to have taken on his way to being crucified but it is in the eastern arab part of the city and i was horrified that something so historically important as that was treated so poorly. it is actually a bazarre, full of market stalls with looky looky men chasing you to buy pieces of tat. it is full of pick pockets and vagabonds and there are signs warning you of this. I genuinely believed that it would have been preserved as a holy site instead of full of rubbish and market stalls selling tat.

Prices were quite expensive, they like dollars best over there but would take almost anything except egyptian money. £1 = 8 shekels and i am not sure what $'s were. 1 euro was 5 shekels.

It was very cold in the city even though it was a clear day and by the time it got to about 4.30pm, it is gettin gdark and we were all knackered and just wanted to go home. We were so fed up, hungry, cold and tired that when it came to getting off the bus and looking at the Knesset ( the Israeli parliament) none of us could be bothered and just looked out the window of the bus although we all showed more interest in the grave of Oskar Schindler ( as in schindlers list).

At the airport, to the horror of everyone, we were made to stand in a line for 30 minutes not being allowed to move, go to the toilet or get a drink purely because "you british, you queue" while every other nationality was allowed through to check in. It made us all late for our plane as no sooner had we managed to get through than we had to bolt for the runway and the trolley dolley was shouting at us saying we had made the plane late for take off..well blame the security. it was an internal flight and when we asked why we had been treated so severely, our answer was that if america's security had been as good as theirs then 9/11 would not have happened. I have no idea what that had to do with us. ( mods, i don't know if you will leave that comment in or not, but it is a true quote from a security guard.. i am not trying to slag any nationalities off). 35 minute flight to Eilat..and health and safety eat your heart out, we were on the runway after disembarking at Eilat when another plane flew over the tops of our head to land! (ok, they were nowhere near but planes are big and the whoosh almost knocked us off our feet..and we were on the runway!!!)

A plus point is that it is a once in a lifetime experience and i would recommend it to anyone whether you have any particular religious affiliation or not. A negative point is that you are not really given any free time to shop and buy souveneirs ( as the promised), you are starving hungry and well ready for coffee and of course, it is a long day and the security restrictions sort of spoil it. If you get the chance to go.... go.